We spent £3150 - Race Developments

We spent
£3150
on engine and chassis
p r o j e c t k1 v s k9
upgrades to a 2001 Suzuki
GSX-R1000 K1
Did we waste our
money?
words kev raymond pics PAUL BRYANT
2001 suzuki gsx-r1000 k1
165.04bhp; 86.14lb.ft; 185mph (est); £5750
The original litre-class GSX-R astounded when
new, but common sense says it’s too long in
the tooth to give the latest model a kicking, no
matter how much money we throw at it.
056
2009 suzuki gsx-r1000 k9
164bhp; 80lb.ft; 184.52mph; £10,320
Latest incarnation of the mighty Gixxer
Thou is nimbler than the original, but
heavier and revvier – the K1 kills it in the
midrange despite similar peak power.
057
p r o j e c t k1 v s k9
In six months we’ve taken our project
GSX-R1000 K1 from asthmatic wheezer to
steroid-fuelled medal contender. But have
we done enough to beat the latest model
on road and track? Science and
development meet stopwatch and logger.
K1: the story so far
We bought our K1 at the back end of last summer for £2600, with
just over 16,000 miles on the clock. It was basically sound,
but had been a bit neglected, and was 25bhp down on standard
thanks to some bodging of the exhaust valve and secondary
throttle butterflies. We sorted the exhaust valve and chucked
the secondary butterflies in the bin, which gave us back most
of the missing ponies. Next up, MCT sorted the tired
suspension by revalving the forks, fitting harder springs,
filling with thicker oil, revalving the rear shock and
increasing the gas pressure. They also sorted the wheel
alignment (the marks are hopelessly inaccurate). Brakes next,
and four-pot calipers from a K3 SV1000 went on, along with EBC
HH pads. That made a huge difference, although we spoiled it a
bit by fitting a K4 GSX-R750 radial master cylinder. We’ll be
removing that soon, but it was still in place for the track
test here.
With the handling and braking improved we could try for more
power. Tim Radley at Race Developments fitted secondhand K5
exhaust headers and a random Scorpion can that came with the
bike, along with a K+N air filter and a Power Commander. Some
fiddling with the velocity stacks in the airbox yielded an
extra few bhp to take us up to a very healthy and perfectlyfuelled 152.43bhp and 80.64lb.ft.
We could have left it there, but Tim wanted to show what
could be done with some proper cylinder head work. He welded
extra material into the inlet and exhaust ports, so he could
machine them to the shape he wanted, based on flow-bench work
and experience. While he was at it he added adjustable cam
sprockets and a manual camchain adjuster, and recut and faced
the valve seats.
The result, after a lot of patient setting up, was astounding
– 165bhp and 86lb.ft. And it’s all genuine gains, not swapping
power in one area for illusory benefits elsewhere. The K1 now
follows the standard curve up to about 7000rpm and then just
takes off, murdering the standard engine and chopping the K9’s
curve up into little bits.
K1 vs K9
■ K1 after head work and Power
Commander etc: 165.04bhp; 86.14 lb.ft
■ K1 standard engine: 147.37;
78.19 lb.ft
■ K9 standard engine: 164.10bhp;
80 lb.ft
Power(bhp) Torque(lb.ft)
170
160
150
140
130
120
110
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
speed (rpm x1000)
2
3
4
5
Costs so far
6
Suspension overhaul
Exhaust headers
PC III
K+N air filter
Brake calipers
Head gasket
Adjustable cam sprockets
Manual camchain tensioner Cylinder head mods
Lift head, set valves, cams
Dyno time
Total
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7
8
£355
£80
£298.33
£34.16
£70
£47.15
£145
£65
£1175
£528.75
£352.50
£3150.89
9
10
11 12 13
Your PB
travellers
Kev Smith
PB’s hardest
working tester, he
takes every bike
to the limit then
takes a long peek
over the edge
KEV RAYMOND
A PB stalwart in
its earliest days,
he is still
unerringly incisive
when it comes to
bike analysis
On the road
Who’d have thought a PB
project bike would ever stick
to schedule? Our carefully modified GSX-R1000 K1
has had its braking and suspension sorted, and a whole stable full of
extra horses added thanks to clever head work and skilful set-up.
We’re ready for a proper showdown with its younger brother, the K9
– thrashed on the road and datalogged on the track.
With deadlines looming and snow falling, we take the decision to
head for France, in search of better weather and a dry trackday.
Fast-forward through lots of motorway and the real riding starts
as we get within reach of the South of France. A quick look at the
map and there’s a riot of green ‘scenic’ markings alongside the road
from Gonfaron to Bormes-les-Mimosas via Collobrières. Lots of
cols marked on the map, and cols mean hairpins.
It’s grippy, sinuous and pretty, and after a few miles we realise this
could well be the best road in the world – as long as you’re on a 50bhp
supermoto. On these bikes it’s just too tight and twisty – it’s like
using an Exocet to shoot pigeons.
By the time we stop at the top of the Col des Fourches, Kev’s
grimacing. ‘On these slow corners the K1’s hard work. I had to really
muscle it in. It felt like it had a flat tyre, but it hasn’t. I think it’s just the
suspension’s now set to work at much higher speeds. I was getting
sore shoulders from pushing on the inside bar all the time.’
By comparison the K9’s nimble and copes with this slow stuff. The
fuelling’s not that great lower down, as Kev points out: ‘In the slow
bends it’s surging – it gives you some fuel, you say, “no, that’s too
much, I’m running wide”, then there’s nothing. You can disguise it
by going up a gear, but then you’re not getting the drive.’
When we swap bikes I’m impressed by the K1. The power’s fluid
and predictable, with massive drive everywhere above 4000rpm (it’s
woolly below that, but I prefer that to the K9’s jerkiness) and the
riding position’s roomy. It helps that the roads open out a bit, and as
we hook west to Pierrefeu and then north towards Brignoles we can
start laying down a bit more power.
Kev reckons the K9 turns quicker, but as we swap again and start
going faster I start missing apexes on it, while I was having no
problem on the K1. Why? The K1 falls into turns like an old Bimota
– it likes to be leant over, but doesn’t like the process of getting there.
Steering the K1’s a physical process, something you do to the bike
whether it likes it or not, where on the K9 it’s a more natural
happening. Put another way, the K9 feels like it’s rolling round its
tyres, while on the K1 they’re in a fight about who’s in charge – you
put in a command at the front, then wait for the rear to acknowledge.
The K1 also stands up on the brakes. I don’t mind because in my
world bikes have always done this, and when I’m on the case I can
Somewhere in France. Rain and more rain. Still, look on the bright side
– at least we’re not wearing the tyres out too quickly
Not the tallest mountain in the world, but certainly one of the twistiest. If
you’re in this neck of the woods on a supermoto, you’ll be in heaven
The K1 uses a bit more fuel than the K9, but there’s not much in it. However, a strike at a local oil refinery almost stopped the whole trip in its tracks
When in France the need for
some sea and sunshine
becomes very real and we
can’t come this close to the
Med and not have a look
use it to help me turn. It’s a technique I use instinctively, and on the
K9 it doesn’t work – as a result I’m missing apexes by a mile. It’s my
old-fashioned riding that suits the K1, not a fault with the K9.
The local paper says the best of the weather’s over towards Cannes,
so we take a fast A-road blast to Fréjus. Damn, these bikes are not for
those with no self-control. When you come out of a 70km/h limit
Handles as if on rails; steaming along; pulls like a train; insert your
favourite locomotive-related cliché here
Both bikes have handy bungee points, but the K1’s marginally more
practical for carting luggage. Kev’s past caring
059
s p e e d t r i p le v s r1
AD
p r o j e c t k1 v s k9
Here’s where the K9 excels – flicking from one side to another in slow to
medium speed bends. In faster bends the K1’s more stable
Still looking good after all these years. But enough about Kev Smith.
GSX-R = blue and white – any other colours would just be plain wrong
The K1 will do this all the time unless you specifically tell it not to. It’s got
so much midrange it just can’t help itself
St Raphaël: cous-cous for three, glass of orange juice and a coffee each.
‘That’ll be 50 euros please.’ Bloody hell, I’m in the wrong business
and know for a fact that a big wheelie’s only a twist of the throttle away it’s
hard not to give in to temptation. So we don’t.
From Fréjus it takes a bit of ferreting around to find our way onto the
DN7 over the Massif de l’Esterel, but it’s worth it.
You have to be careful as it’s popular with racing cyclists as a training
route, especially at this time of year – the good ones will be cornering
faster than you on the descents. Otherwise it’s not too busy out of season
and the views from the top are impressive. Not as impressive as the cheek
of the park warden who wanted us to pay 750 euros for the privilege of
using them as the background for a pic.
From the top we drop down towards Cannes, but rather than get caught
up in the urban sprawl along the coast towards Nice, we pick our way
through the suburbs of Mandelieu and out onto the coast road back
towards Fréjus via St Raphaël. I’ve got happy memories of this road –
I first rode it in 1986 on a CX500, on my way to Pompeii on my first
foreign trip. You need to watch out for diesel spills and lines of drain
covers on bends, and on some of the hairpins the buses use both sides of
the road and will swipe you off without a second thought, but otherwise
WE’ve been trying to do
something specific with the
K1 – make it lap a track faster
than the K9.
there’s something magical about giving it some beans with a red-stone
cliff on one side of you and the sparkling Mediterranean on the other.
We stop for action pics near le Trayas, using a convenient lay-by to turn
round in between runs. After 20-odd passes, and a lot of twitching of
curtains in the camper vans stopped for lunch in the lay-by, I’m
convinced someone’s been on the mobile and there’ll be a car full of
gendarmes along in a minute. When we stop and take our lids off, two
084
vans disgorge middle-aged couples who walk over to admire the bikes.
I try to hold that thought an hour or so later when I’ve just got the bill for
the most expensive one-course snack lunch in history. This may be off
season, but there are no discount prices in seafront restaurants on this
coast. To balance the books, the following day we dine at Lidl.
As we get back on the bikes, I notice my visor’s sporting the first flies of
the year. Half an hour later we’re running away from a cloudburst, but
fortunately it heads out to sea without giving us more than a sprinkling.
What next? Let’s do it again, but in the opposite direction. This way, the
ascent up towards Esterel really flows. The road’s a bit damp but I’ve got
confidence in the K1 now – we understand each other. That’s good
because it does need confidence – once you’re committed to a line that’s
pretty much your lot, where the K9’s happier to chop and change.
I could happily ride up and down this road all day, so that’s what we do.
Last time up, and it’s still sunny at the top, but as the sun sets the
temperature plummets and I’m forcibly reminded that it’s February and
I’m in race leathers. Normally at these moments there’s a race for one
particular set of keys – everyone wants whichever bike will give the
easiest ride to tired bones and a frazzled brain. It’s a surprise to find
I really don’t mind which bike I get for the ride back. The K9? Fine by me.
It’s an hour or so back to the hotel, picking our way through rush-hour
Fréjus, a bit of A-road, then a wrong turn and an unplanned frozen
motorway thrash before a hot shower and a three-course meal.
With a few glasses of wine inside me I’ve got time to reflect. I thought
the K1 would end up like a lot of modified bikes I’ve ridden – strip away
the compromises of a standard bike, which has to work for all people in a
wide range of situations and you can easily improve most bikes within a
fairly narrow range. We’ve been trying to do something very specific
with the K1 – make it lap a racetrack faster than the K9. If that made it a
pig in town, or compromised its performance in any other way, so be it.
What’s amazing is that it hasn’t. It’s still a great road bike.
061
p r o j e c t k1 v s k9
tech comparison
K1
K9
Despite rumours, the K1 is not a bored and stroked GSX-R750Y
engine. It has a very similar head layout and valve sizes, but was
actually all-new, slightly taller and longer, with a bore and stroke of
73mm x 59mm for a displacement of 998cc. Compression ratio is 12:1.
The cylinders are cast into the upper crankcase half for extra rigidity,
and plated directly onto the aluminium block – no separate cylinder
liners. This saves weight and reduces the possibility of coolant leaks
and head gasket failure – common with conventional wet-liner engines.
Titanium headers and a titanium/aluminium silencer help shave weight,
while a servo-controlled exhaust valve is there to keep the noise down
in the midrange as much as improve the power delivery.
One glance at the spec sheet shows the K9 motor’s been designed to
rev. Up to 999cc (K1-4 is 998cc, K5-8 is 998.6cc), it’s even more
oversquare than the earlier models (74.5mm x 57,3mm compared with
the K1’s 73mm x 59mm). Exhaust and inlet valves (now titanium) are
1mm bigger, and it has forged pistons (stronger than cast items), posh
cromoly conrods and a stronger, lighter crank. The engine’s narrower
than earlier versions, and a stacked gearbox makes it shorter as well.
The balance shaft is smaller and lighter. Compression ratio is up to
12.8:1 (K1-4 is 12:1, K5-8 is 12.5:1) and there are air holes between the
bottoms of the cylinder walls to reduce the effect of air pumping round
the crankcase as pistons rise and fall.
Engine
Chassis/suspension
The frame was based on the 750 – they look identical and share
dimensions but the wall thickness was increased to cope with the
extra speed/power of the bigger engine. There was nothing
revolutionary about the K1’s chassis even in 2001 – now it looks a bit
old-fashioned, physically long and tall. The fully adjustable 43mm
upside down forks were based on the 750’s, but with an anti-stiction
titanium nitride coating to the sliders. A non-adjustable steering
damper lurks in front of the fork legs. Rear suspension is a standard
fully adjustable monoshock, operated by a heavily braced swingarm
that looks like something from the early 1990s – contrast that with the
K9’s cast and welded, CAD-sculpted loveliness and you get some idea
how far chassis aesthetics have come on in the last decade.
Engine
Chassis/suspension
The chassis is all-new, built from five cast sections, welded together
and with a bolt-on subframe. The shorter engine allows a more
compact frame, with a longer swingarm in relation to the wheelbase,
claimed to improve traction. Wheelbase itself is 1405mm, against the
K1’s 1410mm. Rear suspension is conventional, but the big news is the
Big Piston Forks at the front. BP forks are claimed to be lighter and
stiffer than conventional forks, with more consistent damping qualities.
It’s easier to strip and revalve them as the whole damping unit slides
out of the top of the forks – important for race teams, less vital for the
rest of us. Nice to have both damping adjusters at the top where we
can get at them easily though.
AD
Knee down in
February. Nice.
No, it’s not Nice,
that’s Cannes in
the background
Wheels, brakes and tyres
Fairly light three-spoke alloy wheels carry what are now standard
superbike-sized tyres, but in 2001 that 190-section rear was a talking
point. 320mm discs at the front are operated by six-piston calipers.
They’ve got to be at least 50% better than four-pistons, right? Wrong.
It’s fine if you develop discs and calipers at the same time, but these
were just added to existing discs. The extra power never materialised,
there was a penalty in feel, and there were 50% more pistons to get
covered in road crap and seize up after the first winter. They went radial
for the K3/4, then finally back to four-pots for the outstanding K5.
Electronics/engine management
Almost bizarrely simple by today’s standards, but state-of-the-art in
2001. Up to that point fuel injection was almost universally jerky and
horrible low down, especially off-idle. The Suzuki system uses two sets
of throttle butterflies – the main ones are controlled by the rider. The
second set are computer controlled, reacting to engine speed, inlet
pressure and throttle position to average out the airflow through the
throttle bodies and smooth out the delivery. And that’s it – no lap
timers, no catalytic converter, no switchable fuel mapping. Just
something that for the first time delivered the advantages of fuel
injection (good for top-end power, programmable to get through noise/
emissions tests) with well set-up CV carbs – grab a handful of throttle
knowing it’s going to do what you expect.
084
Wheels, brakes and tyres
Wheel and tyre sizes are the same as previous 1000s – standard
superbike sizes. But the wheels themselves are lighter. Front brakes use
310mm floating discs gripped by four-piston radial monobloc calipers
– rather than being bolted together from two separate halves, the whole
caliper’s machined from one solid block. Once the piston bores have
been machined (32mm for the trailing pistons, 31mm for the leading
ones), the outer faces are plugged and then welded. In theory all this
makes them stiffer than standard calipers, but it also saves weight – a claimed 205g per caliper. A radial master cylinder with a 17mm bore
provides the pressure.
Electronics
From the K1’s relative simplicity to the K9’s bewildering array of sensors
and gadgets in ten years. But have we actually moved on? Most of the
K9’s extra processing and control ability (at least in standard form) goes
into massaging the engine through ever-stricter noise and emissions
controls. The same goes for the catalytic converter and huge, ungainly
exhausts – all the theoretical weight loss over the K1 is squandered right
there, hence the K9 weighing in a full 10kg more than the K1. And the
three-position engine mapping switch? I’ve no doubt it’s handy for
racers when linked to a race ECU, but for the rest of us? It didn’t get
touched throughout this test – not in the wet, not in the damp, not in the
dry – which tells you all you need to know about how useful it is where
it really counts out in the real world.
063
p r o j e c t k1 v s k9
AT THE TRACK
There are few things more
dispiriting than waking to the
sound of rain hammering on
the windows. Except when
you’ve got to get up and go to a
racetrack you’ve never seen
before and learn it in the wet on
an unfamiliar 165bhp bike…
And if you’ve put in 1000 miles to get to some warm, dry tarmac, it is, to
be blunt, a total bastard... But since we’re here, we’d best get on with it,
learning which way Circuit du Var goes, hoping that a dry line appears.
The first session wasn’t so much misty, more like riding through a
cloud. Clear your visor and a few seconds later you have to clear it again.
Corners are looming out of the murk; can’t tell if it’s a flat kink or a
hairpin at first glance. Fortunately it’s a simple track to learn, except
there’s a bikes-only dead-stop right-hand hairpin and immediate slow
left, just where you’re expecting a fast left kink. In the dry that’s going to
be a test of stability on the brakes and low-down drive.
Second time out and it’s time to fire up the datalogger. Now the
Racelogic Performance Box is a marvellous bit of kit, but there’s one
problem: I’ve never even seen it before and although Kev knew how to
work the old one, this one’s new to him as well. Arse. So to get the hang of
gathering data I decide we’ll go through the full logging rigmarole in the
next damp session. If nothing else, I tell Kev, it’ll give us an idea which
bike is the most forgiving and smooth-steering. He scowls at me. Fair
enough. Actually, we did get interesting info from the damp runs – the
K9 was braking harder and later than the K1 in most places, even
though the track was wetter than for the K1 run. First points to the K9.
By lunchtime there’s a dry line pretty much everywhere. When the
circuit staff get back from their two-hour lunch (this is France, after
all...) and let us back out, we’re onto dry tarmac. A lap to make sure it’s
dry all the way round, another to warm the tyres, then give it some out of
the last bend and down the straight. Merde! I’m on the K1 and at
100mph or so it just stands up on its back wheel over the little crest before
the start finish. The K9 does the same, but it’s not so relentless as the K1 –
a shortshift to third calms it down where the K1 wants to flip all over
again. The whole straight’s a compromise between wheelie and drive,
whichever bike you’re on, but the K1’s definitely driving harder, as Kev
finds out later on: ‘It just feels like the K1’s power kicks in earlier and
harder – all the way down the straight I’m rolling off to stop it flipping,
and into the last fast kink, top end of second, kick it into third and drive
out, it’s wheelying out of there. Is it on lower gearing than standard?’
Nope, but the K1’s walloping power delivery makes it feel that way.
Although first gear’s the same on both bikes, the K9’s close-ratio box
means all the K1’s other gears are higher than the 9’s.
HEAD-TO-HEAD
GSX-R1000 K1
Weight (measured) 198.5kg
Wheelbase
1410mm
Bore and stroke 73 x 59mm
Power
165.04bhp@11,400rpm
Torque
86.14lb.ft@8200rpm
064
GSX-R1000 K9
208.5kg
1405mm
74.5 x 57.3mm
164bhp@11,200rpm
80lb.ft@9800rpm
K1 vs K9 – one lap of
Circuit du Var, le Luc, France
Kev Smith: ‘The great thing about racing yourself is you
can always say, “I won”.’
This is the slow left after the
hairpin. Drive out of here is
critical for a good entry speed to
the next complex. The K9 uses
its smooth steering to carry a bit
more corner speed and pull
away from the K1 up the hill
Kev Smith’s world famous in Corby, but he doesn’t let it go to his head.
Note the gorgeously painted French GSX-R600 K4 in the background
Fast corners are where the K1 scores. It takes some work to turn it in,
but once there, it’s rock solid, no drama
If the K1’s acceleration is impressive, Kev’s less enamoured of its
behaviour on the way into bends. ‘It’s a feel thing – where the turn-in is a
bit rippled I’m getting a floating sensation and I’m not sure if it’s the tyre
trying to tell me something’s wrong. Then braking into the last right
hander, I can’t change down early, I have to hold the gear and let the revs
fall. If I bang it down I get bad rear chatter. Then as you come off the
brakes it goes all mushy. You can’t go from one to the other smoothly.’
The faster he’s going, the more he’s liking the K9 over the K1, especially
the steering: ‘It’s smooth without being wishy-washy. The K1 feels like
an old bike by comparison. I’m still having problems with both on the
brakes though, running wide on the entries and thinking, “the apex is
over there, need to brake harder to make it”, but that makes it worse,
eventually you have to just let it off and pitch it in, trust the front to grip.’
Fortunately the Bridgestone BT016 tyres on both bikes are up to the job
– impressive as they’re not a pure trackday tyre and last well on the road.
‘They spin in the wet, but in the dry the corners are slow so you pick it up
onto the fat bit before you gas it so they just hook up and drive.’
The K1 wears its rear tyre more than the K9 – a classic sign the
suspension’s over-stiff or at the edge of what it can do, but Kev points out
that the K1’s fiercer power delivery might have something to do with it
as well, working the tyre harder from lower speed. Certainly the wear’s
even, no cutting up or cupping, just a nice fine grain right to the edge.
With a load of dry laps logged for the K9, it was time to see if the K1
could match it. Unfortunately the main run suffered from terminal
datalog user error number 374 – forgetting to press the ‘on’ button.
Sorry Kev, my fault. Logger switched on, he headed off for an out lap, a
quick lap, and an in lap. Proper Superpole stuff. He didn’t plan it that
way – the in lap was ‘in’ as ‘in the gravel’. Not his fault – the gearbox had
been getting progressively more cranky, and had already jumped out of
GSX-R1000 K1 GSX-R1000 K9
Lap time
1:10.70s
1:10.80s
Speed on straight
131.95mph
131.4mph
Splits:
First right (300m)
8.6s
8.7s
Fast left kink (680m)
21.2s
21.2s
Mid-hairpin (770m)
26.07s
25.93s
Braking point (1000m)
38.2s
37.95s
Apex of double right (1170m) 43.11s
42.7s
Fast right kink (1500m)
52.2s
51.9s
Apex of last turn (1920m)
62.78s
62.8s
‘A tenth faster? I’d swear blind it wasn’t... Are you sure
you didn’t mix the files up?’ No Kev, I didn’t. A tenth of
second. That’s the difference. But what’s interesting is
not how much time difference there is, but where it’s won
and lost. If all we had was a stopwatch, we’d be left with
the idea that both bikes were so close because they were
doing practically the same thing. They’re not. The K1
initially takes that tenth on the run into the first right
hander, approached via a fast left kink off the straight.
But the K9 takes it straight back, uses its smooth steering
to hustle faster through the super-slow hairpin and
following slow left, then starts to pull away up the hill
and into the double right at the top of the circuit. At the
apex of the double right
the K9’s got nearly
0.4s in hand, but it
starts to go wrong
from there as the
K1 can finally
start to lay down
some serious power in
second and third, using
its stiffer suspension to
dance through the fast right
and get back on the gas while the K9’s tip-toeing through
and running wide on the exit, struggling to stay on the
track. That lets the K1 catch up in the middle of the last
bend and then out-drag the K9 to the line. Result.
Circuit
du Var
second several times. This time it chose to do it just as Kev cranked into
the first part of the second double right, braking hard down from
90mph, with a view to trail-braking down to just over 50 at the apex.
With no drive, and the bike running wide onto the marbles at the still
damp edge of the track, he ran out of options: ‘I’ve never braked so hard
065
p r o j e c t k1 v s k9
DO
A FRENCH TRACKDAY
Two reasons you might want to do this. 1: escaping
Same corner, same line, different feel. Both bikes talk to you, but while
the K9 keeps up a constant, running commentary, the K1...
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crap weather in Blighty for a bit of dry tarmac
early in the year. 2: as a focus for a road trip in
the summer – thrash to a track, thrash round a
track, thrash home. There’s also 3: various
combinations of good food, cheap booze, great roads
and a general public who by and large treat bikers
like human beings. Option 1 is risky, as we know
from long and soggy experience. Even in the South
of France, the weather’s a lottery in the early
months, and for every sunny day we’ve had in
February, we’ve had a grotty one to negate it. On
balance though, it’s worth a try, especially if you
can arrange to get two or three outings in on the
same trip to even out the averages.
1Choose your track
You can find a full list of every track in France at
www.motos-et-pistards.com/circuits-moto.php. For an early
season day you’ll be looking at the far south: Le Luc,
Ledenon, Nogaro, Pau-Arnos and Paul Ricard spring to mind,
but by far the most accessible is Le Luc, which is why we
ended up there. They sub-let loads of days a year to clubs
and trackday firms, so you need to check their website at
www.circuitduvvar.com, look at the calendar and click
through to find contacts for the organisers, then contact
them direct. Some will be phone only, others will have
websites and online booking.
2Speak French. It helps...
...can’t make up its mind whether to whisper or shout. As long as you
listen carefully though, the message still gets through
leant over before, but I just wasn’t going to make it round so I had to
stand it up and try and gas it through the gravel.’ The logger trace shows
he left the track still doing nearly 60mph, and the gravel then slowed
him to a stop in 60 metres. To put that in perspective, the K1’s original
six-pot brakes took over 105 metres to stop from 100mph. Shows gravel
traps work, so long as you can keep it upright.
No harm done, but understandably he wasn’t keen to do any more full
gas laps, so we had that one quick lap to go on. In the end, it was enough
to get a comparison, and it wasn’t at all what we were expecting.
For most of the lap there’s not much in it – the K9 feels better but the
K1’s putting more power on the ground. Towards the end of the lap
though, there’s a big difference. ‘That last kink is the key – it’s getting on
for 100mph, knee down, and you have to really turn it in hard on the K1.
It’s a real confidence thing – you really don’t want to get it wrong and
run wide because there’s not that much run-off. The K9 feels like it’s
making the initial turn better, but I’m struggling to keep it from
running wide on the exit. Maybe it’s turning too well, so I’m effectively
turning in too early, having to wait longer before getting on the power.’
The datalog trace confirms it – both bikes hit the same speed at the
apex, but the K9 spends longer down there before getting back on the
gas. That gives the K1 – which has been struggling to stay on the K9’s
back wheel for most of the lap – the chance to nose ahead, and once in
front, there’s only one more corner to deal with. No finesse needed here,
it’s a case of burying the front end into the tarmac as late as possible,
flinging it on its side, picking it up and nailing it away down the straight.
And nailing it is what the K1’s best at. Both bikes are doing about
40mph/6000rpm at the apex of that last corner. In first gear, the K1’s
making about 10bhp more than the K9 at that point, and at 7k, that
advantage has doubled. The miracle’s not that the K1 beats the K9 by a
tenth, but that the K9 could get so close in the first place.
On the day there’s a very good chance you’ll find
someone who can speak some English and will be happy to
help out, but it’ll make life a lot easier if you can speak a
bit yourself, or find a mate who can. Without some French
you’ll find it difficult to get past the first hurdle of
actually finding out what’s on, when and where. You won’t find
many racetrack websites with translations into Rosbif.
3Think about tyres
They’re a lot more expensive in France, and even if you
take spares it’s not always easy to find someone to fit them
for you, even to loose wheels. You might want to choose
something that’s not going to turn to snot in 20 laps.
4Get some travel insurance
Read the small print though – it often won’t cover you
for trackday use. While you’re at it, get a European Health
Insurance Card (EHIC), which is the modern version of the
old E111 form. Without it you could face a huge medical bill
if you hurt yourself while you’re away.
See www.nhs.uk for more details.
5Take your paperwork with you
You’re legally required to carry your bike’s log book,
insurance and your driving licence. UK insurance
automatically covers you for EU travel but ONLY for the
legal minimum in whatever country you’re in. For the same
cover as you get at home, you’ll need a green card from your
insurer. Some charge, some don’t. Some tracks (Circuit
Carole in Paris is one) have days when they count as one-way
public roads, and your road insurance should be valid for
those days.
assume you’re going to go
6Don’t
and kick some Froggy ass
There’s a hard core of trackday enthusiasts and ex-racers
who indulge their fetish for tuning and modifying bikes
(which is frowned on for road bikes) by building and
thrashing track specials. Some of them are bloody quick.
One of them (a driving instructor and stunt rider on a
GSX-R600 with crash bars) came past Kev Smith at the
hairpin: ‘He was a mentalist - he had it leant over as far
as it would go, everything on the deck. In the wet.’
7Take it easy.
It’s not a race, and if there’s one thing worse than
dumping your pride and joy and ending up in casualty, it’s
doing it a thousand miles from home, and not knowing how to
ask for a bedpan. Trust me - been there, got the T-shirt.
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p r o j e c t k1 v s k9
Sunset on the Esterel, time to go home.
Kev S, who has remembered his jacket, will
be toasty. Kev R, who hasn’t, will freeze
AD
Thank you
Darren at MCT Suspension:
www.mctechnics.co.uk or 01449 777161
Mark White:
[email protected]
01780 482277
Tim Radley at Race Developments:
www.racedevelopments.co.uk 01452 305343
Mark at BSD: www.bsd.uk.com 01733 223377
www.dynojet.co.uk 01995 600500
Pierrot et tout le monde at Speed Racing
Team - Merci et à bientôt! www.srt06.com
So, have we wasted our money?
Absolutely bloody not. Just one look at the dyno curves (PB April 2010)
tells you we’ve invested wisely, optimising what we’ve got rather than
going mad with bolt-ons or getting diverted by shiny bling – two grand in
headwork and set-up sounds like a lot until you realise you can easily
spend that on a full system, a Power Commander and a few dyno runs, all
for a few bhp. What we’ve got is the very best of all worlds – we’ve kept the
incredibly strong midrange that gives the K1 its legendary pull out of
corners on road and track, but added a big, fat-top end kick as well. It’s
impressive that the K1 beats the K9 round the track – it’s what we set out
to do, after all – but it’s only a small part of the story. It would have been
easy to compromise every other aspect of the older bike’s performance in
order to achieve that narrow goal. But our ten-year-old bike is as
driveable and useable as it’s ever been, just as happy trickling along in
traffic as it is wheelying out of, well, just about anywhere.
We haven’t wasted our time either. This project has been an object
lesson in measuring, modifying and then measuring again, letting the
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results speak for themselves rather than making assumptions about what
gains we’re getting. Who would have thought you could get so much
extra from some secondhand exhaust bits and a cheap race can? Who’d
have bet on four-piston calipers beating the six-pistons so soundly – or a
fancy radial master cylinder taking us back to square one?
Who’d have believed a ten-year-old bike could beat this year’s model
(the 2010 model is colour changes only) anywhere, let alone a racetrack?
We believed it, and thanks to some very clever people we’ve proved it.
Don’t lose sight of the fact though, that the K1 is now significantly
modified. The K9 is standard. Do some of the same kind of development
to the K9 and it’d be better still. But the standard K9 costs almost twice
what it took to buy and modify our K1. If it was your K1 you’d have also
invested love and skill into making it yours, and that’s worth thousands
in itself. It’s significant that Kev Smith, who’s done most of the test riding
during our bike’s transformation, is seriously considering buying it. He’s
got the message: ten-year-old sportsbikes rock.
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